Quality assurance —

iPhone 5 shortage? Hon Hai says they’re hard to make

An official says the company is addressing iPhone 5 scratches, too.

Hon Hai, the Taiwan-based company that runs Foxconn, says the reason iPhone 5s are in short supply is because the device is just plain hard to assemble. One executive at the company spoke directly with the Wall Street Journal about the challenges it has been facing since the iPhone 5 went into production, pointing out that it's taking steps to address scratches and speed up production.

"The iPhone 5 is the most difficult device that Foxconn has ever assembled. To make it light and thin, the design is very complicated," an unnamed Hon Hai official told the WSJ. "It takes time to learn how to make this new device. Practice makes perfect. Our productivity has been improving day by day."

Indeed, an autopsy of the iPhone 5 has revealed that it's jam-packed with parts, with not a millimeter of space to spare. That, combined with issues with scratches on the aluminum surface, has apparently caused a bit of a slowdown in the manufacturing process.

Apple Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller made waves in late September by reportedly telling a fan via e-mail that scratching is "normal" for aluminum products. That may be true over the lifetime of the device, but Schiller's comments haven't stopped buyers from being disappointed at seeing scratches on their iPhone 5s right out of the box.

The Hon Hai executive acknowledged that there was a "conflict" between quality inspectors and assembly workers over the scratching issue last month. He told the WSJ that the company has since implemented new procedures to reduce the possibility of damage to the devices.

Jacqui Cheng
Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social networking, privacy, and more. Emailjacqui@arstechnica.com//Twitter@eJacqui

66 Reader Comments

So why is the device black? Would it not look just as nice with an aluminum natural color? Yeah it will get scratched, but IMO would be less noticeable than the current situation? Not to mention you could actually buff out any scratches should you be so inclined...

I sometimes forget about the assembly training issue, and potential impacts to quality, in the rush to be first in line to order a new iPhone. This training curve bodes well for customers from countries that receive iPhones in the second and third waves of sales expansion, as they often pay much more than their US counterparts and are thus even more likely to be dissatisfied if their new ~$700-800 (unsubsidized) phone has problems out of the box.

It is notable that if professional assembly workers with proper no-mar tools can so easily scratch the iPhone 5, the average user must be in for a shock at how quickly their new shiny communicator starts to look used.

So why is the device black? Would it not look just as nice with an aluminum natural color? Yeah it will get scratched, but IMO would be less noticeable than the current situation? Not to mention you could actually buff out any scratches should you be so inclined...

Because raw aluminum is very soft and corrodes easily. Buffing out scratches wouldn't work either, because there would inevitably need to be a clear coating on the polished aluminum surface.

Foxconn/Apple is definitely screwing up - there's no reason an anodized black piece of aluminum should scratch so easily. Looking at the phone in person, I suspect they just cut some corners manufacturing, opted for a relatively thin (ie cheap) anodized layer, and are now paying the price for it. The problem is solvable - they just need to use a harder, thicker anodized layer.

So why is the device black? Would it not look just as nice with an aluminum natural color? Yeah it will get scratched, but IMO would be less noticeable than the current situation? Not to mention you could actually buff out any scratches should you be so inclined...

Because raw aluminum is very soft and corrodes easily. Buffing out scratches wouldn't work either, because there would inevitably need to be a clear coating on the polished aluminum surface.

Foxconn/Apple is definitely screwing up - there's no reason an anodized black piece of aluminum should scratch so easily. Looking at the phone in person, I suspect they just cut some corners manufacturing, opted for a relatively thin (ie cheap) anodized layer, and are now paying the price for it. The problem is solvable - they just need to use a harder, thicker anodized layer.

The reason for the thin anodized layer is covered in the AnandTech review. It's definitely worth checking out if you're interested.

So why is the device black? Would it not look just as nice with an aluminum natural color? Yeah it will get scratched, but IMO would be less noticeable than the current situation? Not to mention you could actually buff out any scratches should you be so inclined...

Because raw aluminum is very soft and corrodes easily. Buffing out scratches wouldn't work either, because there would inevitably need to be a clear coating on the polished aluminum surface.

Foxconn/Apple is definitely screwing up - there's no reason an anodized black piece of aluminum should scratch so easily. Looking at the phone in person, I suspect they just cut some corners manufacturing, opted for a relatively thin (ie cheap) anodized layer, and are now paying the price for it. The problem is solvable - they just need to use a harder, thicker anodized layer.

The reason for the thin anodized layer is covered in the AnandTech review. It's definitely worth checking out if you're interested.

While I was impressed by Apple's ability to make the majority of the metal anodized via their processing, I cannot help but think that another mm of aluminum would have greatly increased the durability via an even thicker anodized layer. Just because thin is in doesn't mean they needed to sacrifice durability for it. I suppose a metaphor for this would be a fragile anorexic person vs a thick, hardy, healthy person that will stand up to more abuse at the expense of a mildly increased weight.

The thin part of the anodized material is causing issues by being so thin makes it hard to anodize, it's not getting the expected depth they were thinking. Scratching is expected and this will be par for course, I expect there to be a small increase in the thickness of the aluminum as the manufacturing process goes on and they iron out the bugs.

Remember how scratched the 3gs became? Bul-ler Bul-ler? People forget about the scratches because the 4 was so incredible that way, but took soo much flack because of the potential shattering of the glass when dropped. It is a balance of design, everything has positives and negatives and people have to accept things and manage the many things in an imperfect world.

People have a choice to buy other things with other trade off's, the galaxy S isn't without it's many flaws, just have to find one without the dealbreakers for themselves.

Overall I would say the iPhone 5 is an excellent phone, from engineering, to SoC, to software.

My only thought on this is that a lot of reviews of the Galaxy SIII said that the plastic backing of that device "felt" cheap. I have two friends who own an SIII, and the devices are still new looking months after purchase.

My one friend with an iPhone 5, and coworker, has numerous scratches on the back of her phone already and the condition of the phone looks terrible, so she keeps it in a thick protector as much as possible. This, for me, ruins the whole point of buying a phone based on the look of the device... if the look of the device will be hidden 99% of the time.

I'm still on my BlackBerry, but if I'm going to plop down that much money on a new device for a look and feel, I would really like to have the look and feel. As a result, I do hope that Apple is looking into this and will try to come up with a better solution then "aluminum does this." Maybe they could use an alloy, such as the stuff used in aerospace? I've heard that aerospace aluminum alloys are supposed to be very tough.

Remember how scratched the 3gs became? Bul-ler Bul-ler? People forget about the scratches because the 4 was so incredible that way, but took soo much flack because of the potential shattering of the glass when dropped. It is a balance of design, everything has positives and negatives and people have to accept things and manage the many things in an imperfect world.

original ipod touch has a similar aluminum bevel. its scratches as all anodized aluminum does but its not something that distracts.

The fact that they're having trouble even manufacturing and boxing the things without visible scratches does not inspire confidence in their long-term durability.

Precisely what I thought as I un-boxed two iPhone 5s, both with physical defects. When I got my 4S I couldn't shake the feeling that Apple was putting form over function (a glass back?!?!). With the 5, all doubt was removed. Instead of thinking, "damn I love how thin this thing is," I found myself going, "damn, this thing would be so much better if they had just kept it a couple of mm thicker and done x, y, and z."

Even more interesting than the scratches, though, are the reports trickling in about case bulges caused by overheating batteries. One of the 5's I owned got insanely hot sometimes, so much so that it caused my hands to sweat. There's a quality control issue there as well, though it'll probably be a few months before the issue really gets some attention.

Nokia did anodized aluminium models and they never scratched as much as the iPhone5. The N8 was notorious for scuffing on the camera module, but that protruded a lot from the body of the phone and always took the brunt of the load - but we're talking one year later to start noticing the scuffs.

Meh, I understand the outrage, but I've (no pun intended) always enjoyed scratching up my iPods and iPhones through daily use. They ad "character" IMHO and trying to keep something you use daily in some kind of pristine condition seems silly.

My only thought on this is that a lot of reviews of the Galaxy SIII said that the plastic backing of that device "felt" cheap. I have two friends who own an SIII, and the devices are still new looking months after purchase.

My one friend with an iPhone 5, and coworker, has numerous scratches on the back of her phone already and the condition of the phone looks terrible, so she keeps it in a thick protector as much as possible. This, for me, ruins the whole point of buying a phone based on the look of the device... if the look of the device will be hidden 99% of the time.

I'm still on my BlackBerry, but if I'm going to plop down that much money on a new device for a look and feel, I would really like to have the look and feel. As a result, I do hope that Apple is looking into this and will try to come up with a better solution then "aluminum does this." Maybe they could use an alloy, such as the stuff used in aerospace? I've heard that aerospace aluminum alloys are supposed to be very tough.

If that was done, I bet it would make the iPhone 5 (or 5S) awesome!

6061 is regular common high quality aluminum, the one Apple uses. They have 7086 which can be PH hardened. But I think its more has to do with the anodizing process and the problems with thin walls than the grade they used.

When I got my 4S I couldn't shake the feeling that Apple was putting form over function (a glass back?!?!).

With all due respect, it took you all the way to iPhone 4S before you realized Apple was putting form over function? Isn't that just how Apple works? Remember the one button mouse? The mighty mouse? The magic mouse? How about that single button on the iPhone? All of these are form-over-function design decisions. Now that may very well be your cup of tea, and that's fine, but let's be honest with ourselves here.

The other day, I watched a rerun of "Ultimate Factories" -- this was building a NY city subway car.

The shell is built (assembled) in Brazil. It takes 2 months to do all the welding. As the sheets are put on, they're covered with a (temporary) plastic.

Then, the whole thing is shrink-wrapped, and shipped to the US. Outside NYC, they spend another 2 months adding things like 43 miles of wires, etc.

In the end, only then, is it delivered to NYC subway - and it has zero scratches.

So, Apple, it can be done - but it might erode your profit margin about $1-3 per phone... or so.

(disclaimer: My 10-month-old Galaxy Nexus has zero scratches of scuffs; I carry it in my front pocket, drop (from a few inches) it on my desk at work, etc. The kids play games on it and have even dropped it hard enough on solid floor for the back to pop off and battery come out. Yet so many consider it "inferior" because it has a plastic shell that appears to keep its look better...)

My only thought on this is that a lot of reviews of the Galaxy SIII said that the plastic backing of that device "felt" cheap. I have two friends who own an SIII, and the devices are still new looking months after purchase.

My one friend with an iPhone 5, and coworker, has numerous scratches on the back of her phone already and the condition of the phone looks terrible, so she keeps it in a thick protector as much as possible. This, for me, ruins the whole point of buying a phone based on the look of the device... if the look of the device will be hidden 99% of the time.

I'm still on my BlackBerry, but if I'm going to plop down that much money on a new device for a look and feel, I would really like to have the look and feel. As a result, I do hope that Apple is looking into this and will try to come up with a better solution then "aluminum does this." Maybe they could use an alloy, such as the stuff used in aerospace? I've heard that aerospace aluminum alloys are supposed to be very tough.

If that was done, I bet it would make the iPhone 5 (or 5S) awesome!

6061 is regular common high quality aluminum, the one Apple uses. They have 7086 which can be PH hardened. But I think its more has to do with the anodizing process and the problems with thin walls than the grade they used.

DBMarketing...what's with the name, seems pretty shillish.

It is what I do for a living: Database (DB) marketing. I sit all day looking at excel spreadsheets and then I turn them into pretty graphs. At that point I give them to other people who take credit for natural trends in the market place!

While I was impressed by Apple's ability to make the majority of the metal anodized via their processing, I cannot help but think that another mm of aluminum would have greatly increased the durability via an even thicker anodized layer. Just because thin is in doesn't mean they needed to sacrifice durability for it.

Speak for yourself. If Apple sold two iPhones, one that was 1mm thicker in all four dimensions, I would buy the thin one that scratches easily.

Also, as far as I can tell so far, this phone is much more durable than my last two iPhones. I've abused mine already (dropped it, same pocket as keys, crashed while skating and the phone protected my hip from the road, etc), and you almost need a magnifying glass to find any scratches. I wonder if the scratches people are seeing out of the box are from the case coming into contact with hardened steel/sharp manufacturing tools.

Josh K wrote:

I suppose a metaphor for this would be a fragile anorexic person vs a thick, hardy, healthy person that will stand up to more abuse at the expense of a mildly increased weight.

This is more like a healthy person (the iPhone 4S) being replaced by an even healthier person (the iPhone 5) that could have been as strong as Mike Tyson, but isn't.

Mydrrin wrote:

Remember how scratched the 3gs became? Bul-ler Bul-ler? People forget about the scratches because the 4 was so incredible that way, but took soo much flack because of the potential shattering of the glass when dropped. It is a balance of design, everything has positives and negatives and people have to accept things and manage the many things in an imperfect world.

Exactly! My 3GS was so full of scratches and cracked plastic I would have thrown it in the bin to buy a new one mid-contract, except I didn't have enough money. My iPhone 4 was much better, it had only cosmetic scratches after 2 years (except for the camera lens. that was unusable) but it was really heavy and I had to spend $100 repairing the backplate from one of the many times I dropped it.

The iPhone 5 is much lighter than the iPhone 4, the camera lens is sapphire, it's much less likely to shatter when dropped, and not quite as scratch resistant as the 4 but still far better than the 3GS or anything any other manufacturer has ever made.

Plastic scratches easier than aluminum, and while in theory you can't see the scratches because they're the same colour, in practice they fill up with dust and become extremely visible.

Even more interesting than the scratches, though, are the reports trickling in about case bulges caused by overheating batteries. One of the 5's I owned got insanely hot sometimes, so much so that it caused my hands to sweat. There's a quality control issue there as well, though it'll probably be a few months before the issue really gets some attention.

Sounds like there's a problem with iOS 6 where when users migrate old iPhones to the iPhone 5. The battery will discharge like mad. The solution is to reset all settings.

Pretty much. If you're working long hours as hard as you can, that's understandable. No doubt when something is scratched they are supposed to put it on a reject pile (aluminium is 100% recyclable), and make sure that it never ends up having all the electronics/etc fitted, packed into a box, and shipped to the customer.

Trouble is, if you scratch more than the guy standing next to you, then they might fire you. And it sounds like that led to them trying to let some scratches slide - once it gets put inside a box and shipped out of the country no individual will be blamed for having a high failure rate.

alxx wrote:

Maybe Apple went with to soft a grade aluminium (cheaper) and should have coughed up for a grade with a harder surface finish

There is no "maybe", it has been covered in depth. They used expensive high grade aluminum, but they made it so thin that some of the hardest anodising options cannot be used. The phone would be much thicker and heavier if they wanted to use them.

Perhaps that is why the previous iPhones and every other manufacturer's phone is plastic or glass. Personally, I like the aluminium. I don't care if it gets a few scratches.

While I was impressed by Apple's ability to make the majority of the metal anodized via their processing, I cannot help but think that another mm of aluminum would have greatly increased the durability via an even thicker anodized layer. Just because thin is in doesn't mean they needed to sacrifice durability for it.

Speak for yourself. If Apple sold two iPhones, one that was 1mm thicker in all four dimensions, I would buy the thin one that scratches easily.

Also, as far as I can tell so far, this phone is much more durable than my last two iPhones. I've abused mine already (dropped it, same pocket as keys, crashed while skating and the phone protected my hip from the road, etc), and you almost need a magnifying glass to find any scratches. I wonder if the scratches people are seeing out of the box are from the case coming into contact with hardened steel/sharp manufacturing tools.

Josh K wrote:

I suppose a metaphor for this would be a fragile anorexic person vs a thick, hardy, healthy person that will stand up to more abuse at the expense of a mildly increased weight.

This is more like a healthy person (the iPhone 4S) being replaced by an even healthier person (the iPhone 5) that could have been as strong as Mike Tyson, but isn't.

Mydrrin wrote:

Remember how scratched the 3gs became? Bul-ler Bul-ler? People forget about the scratches because the 4 was so incredible that way, but took soo much flack because of the potential shattering of the glass when dropped. It is a balance of design, everything has positives and negatives and people have to accept things and manage the many things in an imperfect world.

Exactly! My 3GS was so full of scratches and cracked plastic I would have thrown it in the bin to buy a new one mid-contract, except I didn't have enough money. My iPhone 4 was much better, it had only cosmetic scratches after 2 years (except for the camera lens. that was unusable) but it was really heavy and I had to spend $100 repairing the backplate from one of the many times I dropped it.

The iPhone 5 is much lighter than the iPhone 4, the camera lens is sapphire, it's much less likely to shatter when dropped, and not quite as scratch resistant as the 4 but still far better than the 3GS or anything any other manufacturer has ever made.

Plastic scratches easier than aluminum, and while in theory you can't see the scratches because they're the same colour, in practice they fill up with dust and become extremely visible.

There is no "maybe", it has been covered in depth. They used expensive high grade aluminum, but they made it so thin that some of the hardest anodising options cannot be used. The phone would be much thicker and heavier if they wanted to use them.

Perhaps that is why the previous iPhones and every other manufacturer's phone is plastic or glass. Personally, I like the aluminium. I don't care if it gets a few scratches.

High grade doesn't mean hard or soft and just because something is harder doesn't necessarily mean heavier or stronger.

For something that needs to be machined you would usually pick a relatively soft grade (makes it easier and cheaper for machining - cheaper tooling) then treat it (hot or cold work) to make it harder then anodise or plate it or coat it etc

The other day, I watched a rerun of "Ultimate Factories" -- this was building a NY city subway car.

The shell is built (assembled) in Brazil. It takes 2 months to do all the welding. As the sheets are put on, they're covered with a (temporary) plastic.

Then, the whole thing is shrink-wrapped, and shipped to the US. Outside NYC, they spend another 2 months adding things like 43 miles of wires, etc.

In the end, only then, is it delivered to NYC subway - and it has zero scratches.

So, Apple, it can be done - but it might erode your profit margin about $1-3 per phone... or so.

(disclaimer: My 10-month-old Galaxy Nexus has zero scratches of scuffs; I carry it in my front pocket, drop (from a few inches) it on my desk at work, etc. The kids play games on it and have even dropped it hard enough on solid floor for the back to pop off and battery come out. Yet so many consider it "inferior" because it has a plastic shell that appears to keep its look better...)

I don't think you know what you're talking about. Yes, products such as railway cars or airplanes get protected during manufacturing all the time. I worked on a project at Boeing once where I replaced all the computers in the entire company (well, I was the technical PM on it but I directly replaced hundreds myself as well). Planes and railway cars such as you're talking about have a hugely different process of manufacturing. I wouldn't be surprised to see an iPhone move from a bunch of parts to a phone within a day. The cost of the equipment alone to apply this protective covering of which you speak would be quite a lot and, most likely, more than a dollar or three per phone. It'd also add a non-insignificant amount of time to the process.

I'm not saying they shouldn't do something, I am just saying that unless your numbers are based on solid data, I suspect it's much more expensive than that and far from trivial.

So the reason for soft backside is trying to make the phone as thin as possible, compromising in anodizing thickness?

0.2mm (0.0078 inches to you guys stuck in imperial times) extra would have been too much?

You're misunderstanding it.

AnandTech (about the only guy knows what he's talking about and is discussing it publicly) estimates the iPhone 5's anodising thickness is around 60-75um. That is 0.06mm or 0.0023 inches.

He also said this:

AnandTech wrote:

And the thing is, I'm not even sure they have the material thickness to oxidize more of the surface to get a more durable finish. The entire phone is so thin, and especially on the bands, I can't see a way for them to corrode any more of the aluminum than they already have without it raising questions about structural integrity.

So basically, if they if they used harder anodising, the aluminium would become so weak that it would fail. And remember, this is not just a battery cover - the outer shell is the only thing stopping the circuit boards and screen from bending and snapping in your pocket.

If they wanted to use better anodising, they would have to make the entire aluminium shell significantly thicker. We don't know how much thicker, because they have access to state of the art technology that nobody else can afford to use (apple is happy to spend 2 or 3 billion on upgrading the factory equipment).

It might have made the phone as much as 1 or 2mm thicker to truly solve the scratching. If that is true, then they'd probably be better off going back to the old glass case instead.

iPods and Macs have been using aluminium for years. But it is orders of magnitude thicker.

So the reason for soft backside is trying to make the phone as thin as possible, compromising in anodizing thickness?

0.2mm (0.0078 inches to you guys stuck in imperial times) extra would have been too much?

You're misunderstanding it.

AnandTech (about the only guy knows what he's talking about and is discussing it publicly) estimates the iPhone 5's anodising thickness is around 60-75um. That is 0.06mm or 0.0023 inches.

He also said this:

AnandTech wrote:

And the thing is, I'm not even sure they have the material thickness to oxidize more of the surface to get a more durable finish. The entire phone is so thin, and especially on the bands, I can't see a way for them to corrode any more of the aluminum than they already have without it raising questions about structural integrity.

So basically, if they if they used harder anodising, the aluminium would become so weak that it would fail. And remember, this is not just a battery cover - the outer shell is the only thing stopping the circuit boards and screen from bending and snapping in your pocket.

If they wanted to use better anodising, they would have to make the entire aluminium shell significantly thicker. We don't know how much thicker, because they have access to state of the art technology that nobody else can afford to use (apple is happy to spend 2 or 3 billion on upgrading the factory equipment).

It might have made the phone as much as 1 or 2mm thicker to truly solve the scratching. If that is true, then they'd probably be better off going back to the old glass case instead.

iPods and Macs have been using aluminium for years. But it is orders of magnitude thicker.

I don't see nothing in anandtech article claiming that there is some kind of ratio between the oxide layer and aluminium. It only says that the thickness of parts increases about 50% of the thickness of oxide layer left after oxidization, as aluminium oxide takes double the room aluminium does.

So to get 0.2mm thick oxide the phone would have to be 0.1mm thicker before oxidization, and after the oxidization the phone would be 0.2mm thicker, without losing any of the strength of the aluminium case.

I've got a black iPhone 5 that came with a scratch on it. It's small and doesn't bother me.

The anodizing on the back edge is starting to wear a little and it seems like all the edges will eventually turn silver. I'm sure Apple had a good idea of how anodized aluminum ages based on their experience with the iPod mini. I think it'll look pretty good a little roughed up.

So why is the device black? Would it not look just as nice with an aluminum natural color? Yeah it will get scratched, but IMO would be less noticeable than the current situation? Not to mention you could actually buff out any scratches should you be so inclined...

Because raw aluminum is very soft and corrodes easily. Buffing out scratches wouldn't work either, because there would inevitably need to be a clear coating on the polished aluminum surface.

Foxconn/Apple is definitely screwing up - there's no reason an anodized black piece of aluminum should scratch so easily. Looking at the phone in person, I suspect they just cut some corners manufacturing, opted for a relatively thin (ie cheap) anodized layer, and are now paying the price for it. The problem is solvable - they just need to use a harder, thicker anodized layer.

I disagree with you and so do my aluminum baseball bats. Actually so did my ipod touch, which when buffed with a decent tool would look brand new. Oh and all the fences I see everywhere, they also disagree.

Perhaps aluminum corrodes easily, but what timeframe and environment are we talking about here?